‘¦ The Lakers are 17-24 and alone in 12th place in the Western Conference after Monday’s 95-83 loss to the Bulls in Chicago, their sixth straight road loss. It’s not sitting well[11] with Kobe Bryant[12].

“Very, very tough, very, very frustrating, trying to keep my cool,” Bryant said. “It is embarrassing. It is not even embarrassing. I am a big history guy. Playing here in this arena with these incredible fans, you’re in the house of MJ [Michael Jordan[13]], [Scottie] Pippen, PJ [Phil Jackson[14]] built, to put this kind of brand of basketball on the floor is just not acceptable.”

“We’re going to have to look at some things,” he said. “We’re going to have to change something. Probably going to have to post the ball a lot more, slow the game down a lot more. That’s just my intuition, but that’s my gut right now. I have to take a look at the film again, but we’re definitely going to have to change something.”

“It’s frustrating,” Howard said[16]. “I can’t do what I do best with five shots.”

Pau Gasol[17] was removed from the starting lineup in favor of Earl Clark, who had 12 points and eight rebounds.

“I’m not excited about it,” said Gasol, who finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. “But right now I’m more worried about us as a team and us struggling, so it would be selfish of me talking how I feel about [this] in particular.”

‘¦ Nets forward Kris Humphries was the target of verbal abuse by Knicks fans on his way to the court prior to Monday’s game at Madison Square Garden, but the fans were silent after Brooklyn walked off with an 88-85 victory[18].

“They were harassing me when I was going in and out of the tunnel,” Humphries said. “But after, I asked them, ‘Why’s everyone so quiet?’ ”

Added Humphries: “They were saying everything, everything under the sun.”

Humphries followed that with a tweet: the Garden got really quiet on the way out.

Knicks guard J.R. Smith, who missed a potential game-tying basket at the buzzer, decided to respond and get in a dig at Humphries about his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, who now is pregnant with singer Kanye West.

The Hansen group is expected to pay a little more than $340 million for 65 percent of the franchise, which is valued at $525 million. The deal needs approval from the NBA Board of Governors.

“While we are not at liberty to discuss the terms of the transaction or our plans for the franchise given the confidential nature of the agreement and NBA regulations regarding public comments during a pending transaction, we would just like to extend our sincerest compliments and gratitude toward the Maloof family,” Hansen said in a statement. “Our negotiations with the family were handled with the utmost honor and professionalism and we hope to continue their legacy and be great stewards of this NBA franchise in the coming years and decades.”

Heat star LeBron James[21] had an interesting take on the announcement. Tweeted the reigning NBA MVP:

So the Kings getting sold for 525M!! And the owners ain’t making no money huh? What the hell we have a [lockout] for. Get the hell out of here.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA (answer below): On Jan. 22, 2012, in the AFC championship game, the Patriots edged the Ravens, 23-20, after Billy Cundiff[22]‘s 32-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left with seconds remaining. Which Patriot scored the game-winning touchdown early in the fourth quarter?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “That whole [Super Bowl[23] titles] era is over with. It’s gone. So, this is a whole new team. It’s a different bunch of guys. We all have to experience it and learn for ourselves what it’s like. Getting in the Super Bowl last year and losing left a bad taste in my mouth. I would have liked to get back this year, but that wasn’t the way it happened. You take all the lessons in life and learn from them, and put your best foot forward the next year.” — Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich[24], as the players cleared out their lockers Monday[25] following Sunday’s AFC championship loss to the Ravens

From Sunday’s night’s game in Denver, Thunder guard Russell Westbrook[27] — taking the Kevin Garnett[28] strategy to a new level — blocks two halfcourt shots by Rocky, the mascot of the Nuggets mascot.